Ports vs. Sealed specific to a convertible (sq).

[Barjam 10+ year member]

For a convertible, wouldn't a ported box (in theory) have a better response curve than a sealed box?

If you look at the response curve of a sealed sub there is a nice gradual dropoff at 60ish hz or so. In theory cabin gain (in a normal car) would replace that curve with a +12db gain so everything would EQ (very roughly) to a nice flat response. Obviously I am oversimplifiying this a great deal.

In a convertible you don't get cabin gain, so to get a nice flat response you would need to EQ a sealed sub more than a ported.

Does that theory sound about right?

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[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Either way, I recommend down-firing for a convertible.

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

I agree with your theory, you can get back some of those db's by porting and tuning low.

 

[iagrdshaka 5,000+ posts]

If you leave the top down all the time...i guess

 

[loud-n-low 10+ year member]

Ive seen people in convertibles use a "loading board". .actually saw this in some of my mid-90's car audio magazines

 

[Barjam 10+ year member]

I googled for "loading board" and convertibles and didn't find anything. Is there another name for it I could look for?

Thanks

 

[Hook Me Up 10+ year member]

Ported is alwasy the way to go man, an extra 3 or 4 db is always a nice boost

 

[Alpineinstaller 10+ year member]

isobaric is ideal for small spaces, but you would have to have 2 drivers

 

[loud-n-low 10+ year member]

the best I can describe a loading board from the picture I have seen is a flat piece of wood mounted a few inches above the subs as wide as the box . this pressurized the subs so the sound wouldnt just go right out the convertible.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

loading board or downward firing would work (does the same thing) space between the loading area and woofer 4-5" and i didnt have too much luck porting my sidekick.

 

[loud-n-low 10+ year member]

i agree

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

ported gets louder with top down but sounds incredibly sh!ty lol unless its a pro sound type woofer

 

[loud-n-low 10+ year member]

these methods pressurize the subs, a ported box wont,even though they are louder.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

these methods pressurize the subs, a ported box wont,even though they are louder.

I really have no idea what you are trying to say there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif, but 'front loading' the sub really is irrelevant to the enclosure type, other than bandpass where the sub is completely enclosed in the box making front loading impossible. You can front load in a sealed or ported application, it makes no difference.

Front loading is a method of placing a rigid and reflective surface a relatively close distance from your speaker to create a pressure area in front of the cone. In my experience it helps 'contain' the bass inside a convertible vehicle. Down-firing is another method of front loading, but down-firing tends to transfer more energy to the vehicle's chassis (a good thing) than does a side-mounted loading board.

 

[loud-n-low 10+ year member]

second paragraph by audioholic is what i mean by pressurizing the subs